Plastics debris is an ever-growing concern adversely affecting coastal and marine ecosystem. Among the total marine plastic waste, a particularly troublesome waste fraction is the Abandoned, Lost or Discarded Fishing Gears... [ view full abstract ]
Plastics debris is an ever-growing concern adversely affecting coastal and marine ecosystem. Among the total marine plastic waste, a particularly troublesome waste fraction is the Abandoned, Lost or Discarded Fishing Gears (ALDFG) continuing to trap marine life for years upon release and have significant adverse environmental effects on coastal and marine ecosystems. In order to employ sustainable fishing gear resource management, it is essential to understand life cycle processes and further monitor gear quantities in and between these processes. Material Flow Analysis (MFA) is an established environmental accounting tool used to assess flows and stocks of materials in industrial and natural systems suitable for this purpose. In this study, we report on an MFA model to track material flows and stocks of fishing gear from commercial fisheries in Norway through use and post-use processes. Based on data from gear producers and importers, fishermen, collectors, recycling and waste management companies, we quantify mass of the various fishing gear types used commonly in Norway for commercial fishing namely, trawls, seines, longlines, gillnets and traps. Structured and semi-structured interviews and questionnaire was primarily used as a method to collect the data from key stakeholders involved in the system. Preliminary results from the analysis shows that gillnets, longlines and traps are the main contributors to ALDFG in the ocean in Norway. These gear types are also more susceptible to get lost due to gear design, practice and ground deployment. We also identify an accumulating stock of gear shoreside for some gear types, which has a critical impact on overall recycling efficiency in the system. Plastic polymers nylon, polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) are among the major building blocks of these fishing nets hence the results from MFA also help in scientifically estimating the amounts of plastic entering in the ocean and the typical end-of-life scenarios of plastic fishing nets in Norway. The MFA approach shows significant potential as a decision support tool for industry and policy-makers in exercising sustainable fishing gear resource management. The approach helps understand the extent of the problem on a regional level, identify end-of-life scenarios of gear types, target critical processes and evaluate feasible mitigation mechanisms. The model will be further developed to track plastic and metal fractions embodied in the gear to understand assess the potential for gear recycling in Norway.
Key-words: ALDFG, Fishing gears, Sustainability Science, MFA, Marine Pollution
1c. Assessing sustainability (indicators and reporting)
